[Slyrunner]

Hey, so emergency. I found a baby anemone (assuming it was a pollup) on my new live rock. Like, it was very tiny (only reason I saw it was because it was stretching one lone tentacle out touching things with it). It was the size of maybe the tip of a ballpoint pen. It was the only one I saw after a good 30 minutes of inspection. So, I crushed the hell out of it while sucking up the remnants with a pipette.

but I fear there may be more. So, I want to get some peppermint shrimp tomorrow as an emergency cleanup crew. My tank is still cycling (I got the live rock on Wednesday), and the ammonia levels are still fluctuating. But nothing too high. What should I do?

 

[motorslave]

If you're still seeing ammonia then adding anything is a waste of money, especially shrimp. I'm not familiar with glass anemone so i will let someone chime in on that but don't add any animals to a cycling tank. Crushing/smashing/tearing them apart will likely lead to more of them. There are methods of injecting them with lemon juice, near boiling water or store bought compounds advertised as specifically for this pest. DONT TEAR THEM APART! You can also cover them with kalk.

 

[evandubya]

I put a hypodermic needle full of lemon juice into the two I had and haven't had any since.

 

[ChiWing]

Yep, they'll spew spores all over your tank if you try killing them like that. I use Aiptasia-X, it's worked well for me. Absolutely agree with Motorslave - shouldn't add anything to alive while your tank is still cycling.

 

[Slyrunner]

AiptasiaX. Can I get that anywhere?

 

[motorslave]

Dont know about anywhere, check your local shops, or use lemon juice in the same method of injection.

 

[Slyrunner]

aight. I wont add anything. I got AiptasiaX. But, how screwed am I if I did crush the little guy...? Even if it was the size of a ballpoint pen tip?

 

[motorslave]

aight. I wont add anything. I got AiptasiaX. But, how screwed am I if I did crush the little guy...? Even if it was the size of a ballpoint pen tip?

Depends on how it reacts in your tank. Could be a royal pain or it could be a small to non issue. The best thing is to get them when they are younger. You might to fight it for a while but with diligence you will get the issue resolved. Its all part of the new tank lottery!

 

[ChiWing]

If he comes back just do it again. More might pop up, just zap those too. It can be an annoyance, but if you keep on them it's not a big problem.

 

[Slyrunner]

all right, looks like I'll be standing guard for those buggers to pop up lol